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A week after Hamas-led terrorists stormed his kibbutz and kidnapped his wife and three young children, Avihai Brodutch planted himself on the sidewalk in front of army headquarters in Tel Aviv holding a sign scrawled with the words \u201cMy family\u2019s in Gaza,\u201d and said he would not budge until they were brought home.<\/p>\n
Passers-by stopped to commiserate with him and to try to lift his spirits. They brought him coffee, platters of food and changes of clothing, and welcomed him to their homes to wash up and get some sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so kind, and they just couldn\u2019t do enough,\u201d said Mr. Brodutch, 42, an agronomist who grew pineapples on Kibbutz Kfar Azza<\/a> before the attacks on Oct. 7<\/a>. \u201cIt was Israel at its finest,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was a feeling of a common destiny.\u201d<\/p>\n The one-man sit-in mushroomed in the weeks after the attacks. But the sidewalks outside the military headquarters could not contain multitudes, and some people were uncomfortable with the location, which was associated with anti-government protests<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n So the mass moved a block north to the plaza in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, where a long rectangular table set for 234 people and surrounded by empty chairs had been installed to represent the captives. Since some 110 hostages<\/a> have come home, half of the table has been reset to correspond to the conditions of captivity they described, with half a moldy piece of pita bread on each plate and bottles of dirty water on the table instead of wineglasses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In the months since the attacks, the plaza has continued to attract a steady stream of Israelis and tourists on volunteer missions who want to support the families. But it has also become a home away from home for the parents, adult children, siblings, cousins and other relatives of hostages.<\/p>\n Although it can get damp and chilly in Tel Aviv in the winter, many have set up tents in the plaza, often sleeping there, keeping company with the only other people in the world who they say can truly understand what they are experiencing \u2014 the family members of other hostages.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t know what to do, I come here,\u201d said Yarden Gonen, 30, who was wearing a white sweatshirt emblazoned with a picture of her sister Romi Gonen, 23, who was shot and kidnapped at the outdoor Nova music festival<\/a> near the Gaza border. A friend with her was killed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cNone of us is doing anything remotely related to our previous lives,\u201d Yarden Gonen said. Even having coffee in a cafe would make her feel bad, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cTo do that would be to normalize the situation,\u201d she said. \u201cIt would be like saying, \u2018This is OK, and I\u2019m used to it.\u2019 And I\u2019m not willing to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Ms. Gonen said she found comfort in the constant presence in the square of people who are not related to the hostages, like the peace activists from Women Wage Peace who stand vigil daily from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. so the families are not alone, and a trio of women who bonded over their anger at international organizations they believe have failed the hostages (they carry posters that say, \u201cRed Cross Do Your Job!\u201d or \u201cU.N. Women, Where Are You?\u201d).<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it\u2019s raining and I see that they\u2019ve come, it is moving, because they could have stayed cozy at home,\u201d Ms. Gonen said. \u201cThere is a feeling that they support us, that we haven\u2019t been abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Although the Israeli government has stated that one of the primary goals of the war in Gaza is to free the hostages, the army has said it has so far rescued only a small number of individuals<\/a>. Three others were mistakenly killed<\/a> by Israeli troops.<\/p>\n Most of the hostages who have returned \u2014 including Mr. Brodutch\u2019s wife and children<\/a> \u2014 were released in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons<\/a>, as part of a cease-fire deal<\/a> negotiated with Hamas in November.<\/p>\n For many of the hostage families, the greatest fear is that despite the stated goal, the government is not prioritizing the extrication of the hostages. They worry it may ultimately chalk up the loss of the remaining captives as just more collateral damage in the bloody conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Gaza health ministry says that more than 29,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the territory since the war\u2019s start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Many people who come to the Tel Aviv plaza regularly say that if Israel does not secure the release of the hostages, the country will never be the same. \u201cWe will be worth nothing if they don\u2019t come back,\u201d said Jemima Kronfeld, 84, who visits every Thursday. \u201cWe will have no value. We will lose what we were, the safe feeling of being at home.\u201d<\/p>\n In the initial chaos after the surprise attacks, many people did not know if their relatives \u2014 who had gone missing from kibbutzim and the site of a rave near the Gaza border \u2014 had been bound and dragged across the border, or killed, and many complained that the government was unresponsive.<\/p>\n The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a grass-roots citizens\u2019 group, sprung up to fill the void. The group provides a wide range of services for hostage families, serving them three meals a day, making medical, psychological and legal services available, and acting as an advocacy group, organizing and funding news media appearances and meetings with world leaders, as well as rallies pressing for the hostages\u2019 release.<\/p>\n The forum raises private donations but has received no support from the Israeli government, which still does not provide the families with regular updates, said Liat Bell Sommer, who quit her day job to head the forum\u2019s international media relations team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Other volunteers pitch in when they can.<\/p>\n \u201cI just felt like I had to do something \u2014 I thought I\u2019d go crazy if I didn\u2019t have some part in this,\u201d said Hilla Shtein, 49, of Tel Aviv, a human resources manager who goes to the plaza several times a week to work a stand where visitors can make a donation and pick up hats, sweatshirts and buttons that say \u201cBring them home NOW.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The most popular items \u2014 ubiquitous throughout Israel now \u2014 are dog tags that say \u201cOur hearts are hostage in Gaza,\u201d in Hebrew.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard, because it\u2019s really in your face when you\u2019re here,\u201d Ms. Shtein said, adding, \u201cBut it\u2019s pulling at your heart all the time anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n After reports last week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told negotiators not to participate<\/a> further in talks in Cairo about a cease-fire and the return of the hostages, the forum accused the government of abandoning the captives. Thousands protested on Saturday night, despite thunderstorms, calling on the government to secure their immediate return.<\/p>\n Those who visit the plaza regularly say that there is always something new to see.<\/p>\n